Radio terminal and information reception control method suitable for push type information distribution system

ABSTRACT

A radio terminal capable of effectively utilizing push type distribution information is disclosed. The radio terminal is formed by a reception unit configured to receive push type distribution information from a radio base station, a location recognition unit configured to carry out a recognition related to an area in which the radio terminal is located, and a reception control unit configured to determine whether or not to receive the push type distribution information according to a recongition result of the location recognition unit, and control the reception unit according to a determination result.

This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 09/723,226filed on Nov. 28, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,427.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a radio terminal and an informationreception control method in a radio communication system in which radiobase stations for transmitting push type distribution information arearranged at spots.

2. Description of the Background Art

The standardization of the MMAC (Multimedia Mobile Access Communication)system as a radio communication system for providing multimediainformation to a user quickly by using radio is currently in progress,and various applications utilizing a radio communication system capableof fast transmission such as this MMAC system are currently developed.For example, it is possible to consider a system in which a radio basestation broadcasts information that should be notified to many userssuch as advertisement or emergency information, such that all radioterminals that can communicate with the radio station can receive theinformation.

In such a radio communication system, a radio terminal receives theinformation broadcasted by the radio base station. The radio terminalreceived the broadcasted information whenever it becomes capable ofcommunicating with the radio base station that is broadcasting theinformation. Consequently, it becomes possible to receive theinformation from the radio base station without requiring a user tocarry out an operation to receive the information. On the other hand,however, the information broadcasted by the radio base station will bereceived even at a location where the reception of the information isnot desired by the user. As a result, there arises a problem that theradio terminal will wastefully consume its battery power and memorycapacity.

An example of the conventional radio terminal will now be described withreference to FIG. 26 and FIG. 27. FIG. 26 shows an exemplaryconfiguration of the conventional radio terminal, which is a radioterminal capable of receiving push type distribution information. Also,FIG. 27 shows an exemplary operation of the conventional radio terminal.

As shown in FIG. 26, the radio terminal 2001 includes at least areception unit 2002 for receiving control information transmitted fromthe radio base station by using radio and push type distributioninformation transmitted from that radio base station by using radio tothis radio terminal 2001 according to a request from a device other thanthis radio terminal 2001 (that is, without a request from this radioterminal 2001), and a reception control unit 2003 for controlling thereception unit 2002. In addition to these, the radio terminal 2001 mayinclude an information memory device for storing the informationreceived through the reception unit 2002 and a battery for supplyingpower to the radio terminal 2001.

The reception unit 2002 of the radio terminal 2001 receives the controlinformation broadcasted from the radio base station by using radio, andthe reception control unit 2003 judges whether this radio terminal 2001itself is located within a service area or not according to whether thecontrol information can be received or not (step S91). In the case wherethis radio terminal 2001 is located within a service area, the receptioncontrol unit 2003 controls the reception unit 2002 to receive the pushtype distribution information transmitted from the radio base station(step S92).

In the case of providing each railway station with a radio base station(having a service area that covers a range of that station) andtransmitting the push type distribution information such asadvertisement information or regional information related to a vicinityof that station from that radio base station, for example, the radioterminal carried around by a passenger on board will receive the pushtype distribution information whenever a train stops at a station orpasses a station according to the above described operation. In otherwords, the radio terminal of a passenger who utilizes a route on whichthere are many stations with the radio base stations for transmittingthe push type distribution information provided thereon will end upreceiving a large amount of advertisement information and the like veryfrequently, which means a large amount of undesired information for auser of that radio terminal will be received, so that there is a problemthat the handling of the radio terminal becomes poor.

Also, the radio terminal will wastefully consume its battery power and amemory capacity of its information memory device by receiving a largeamount of the advertisement information and the like that is transmittedregardless of the user's preference, so that there can be cases where itbecomes impossible to receive any information by the time of receivingthe desired information of the user because of the shortage of aremaining battery power or an available memory capacity of theinformation memory device.

Moreover, the advertisement information or the like of a specificstation is going to be transmitted even to the radio terminal of apassenger who has a very little possibility for actually getting on oroff the train, so that it is going to be a very inefficientadvertisement distribution.

Thus the conventional radio terminal in the radio communication systemin which radio base stations for transmitting push type distributioninformation are arranged at spots will receive and store a large amountof information whenever the service area is changed as a user who iscarrying around that radio terminal moves, so that there are problemsthat the information cannot be utilized effectively from a viewpoint ofa user side, that the battery power or the memory capacity will bewasted from a viewpoint of a radio terminal side, and that the providedinformation will not be utilized effectively by users from a viewpointof an information provider side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a radioterminal and an information reception control method capable ofeffectively utilizing received and stored push type distributioninformation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a radioterminal and an information reception control method capable ofreceiving push type distribution information while preventing wastefulconsumption of the battery power or the memory capacity.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided aradio terminal, comprising: a reception unit configured to receive pushtype distribution information from a radio base station which istransmitting the push type distribution information related to an areato which the radio base station belongs, without requiring a requestfrom the radio terminal; a location recognition unit configured to carryout a recognition related to an area in which the radio terminal islocated; and a reception control unit configured to determine whether ornot to receive the push type distribution information according to arecognition result of the location recognition unit, and control thereception unit according to a determination result.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is providedan information reception control method for a radio terminal which iscapable of receiving push type distribution information from a radiobase station which is transmitting the push type distributioninformation related to an area to which the radio base station belongs,without requiring a request from the radio terminal, the methodcomprising the step of: carrying out a recognition related to an area inwhich the radio terminal is located; determining whether or not toreceive the push type distribution information according to arecognition result obtained by the carrying out step; and receiving thepush type distribution information only when the determining stepdetermines to receive the push type distribution information.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided acomputer usable medium having computer readable program codes embodiedtherein for causing a computer to function as a radio terminal, thecomputer readable program codes include: a first computer readableprogram code for causing said computer to receive push type distributioninformation from a radio base station which is transmitting the pushtype distribution information related to an area to which the radio basestation belongs, without requiring a request from the radio terminal; asecond computer readable program code for causing said computer to carryout a recognition related to an area in which the radio terminal islocated; and a third computer readable program code for causing saidcomputer to determine whether or not to receive the push typedistribution information according to a recongition result of the secondcomputer readable program code, and control the first computer readableprogram code according to a determination result.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the first and second embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the third to eighth embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the third and fifth embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the fourth and sixth embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing another exemplary configuration of aradio terminal according to the seventh embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the seventh and eighth embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing another exemplary configuration of aradio terminal according to the eighth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the ninth and tenth embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing another exemplary configuration of aradio terminal according to the ninth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing another exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the ninth and tenth embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing another exemplary configuration of aradio terminal according to the tenth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a radioterminal according to the twelfth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a radioterminal according to the twelfth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of aconventional radio terminal.

FIG. 27 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operation of a conventionalradio terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1 to FIG. 25, various embodiments of a radioterminal and an information reception control method according to thepresent invention will be described in detail.

(First Embodiment)

First, with references to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the first embodiment of thepresent invention will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the first embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information when the radio terminal stays in the samearea for more than a prescribed period of time. FIG. 2 shows anexemplary operation of the radio terminal of the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the radio terminal 101 includes at least a receptionunit 102 for receiving control information transmitted from a radio basestation by using radio and push type distribution informationtransmitted from that radio base station by using radio to this radioterminal 101 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 101 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 101),a location recognition unit 103 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 101 itself by utilizing the control information received by thereception unit 102, a time measurement unit 104 for measuring a periodof time for which this radio terminal 101 stays in the same area byutilizing information regarding a location recognized by the locationrecognition unit 103, and a reception control unit 105 for controllingthe reception unit 102 to receive the push type distribution informationtransmitted from the radio base station when the period of time measuredby the time measurement unit 104 exceeds a prescribed period of time.

Note that regarding an area of the push type distribution information,there can be a case where the same area is covered by one radio basestation and a case where the same area is covered by a plurality ofradio base stations.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, there can be a case where an entire railway station including avicinity of platform, a vicinity of entrance and a vicinity of exit iscovered as the same area and a case where only a part of the railwaystation is covered as the same area. There can also be a case wheredifferent areas are set for a platform and a concourse, or for avicinity of west gate and a vicinity of east gate, for example (that is,there can be a case where a plurality of areas are provided in the samerailway station).

These points are equally valid for the subsequent embodiments as well.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 101 of FIG. 1 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 2.

The reception unit 102 of the radio terminal 101 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the radio base station by usingradio, and judges whether the radio terminal 101 itself is locatedwithin a service area or not according to whether the controlinformation can be received or not (step S1).

In the case where the radio terminal 101 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 103 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 101 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike that is contained in the control information. In addition, the timemeasurement unit 104 monitors whether a change in this locationinformation occurs or not, and judges whether the radio terminal 101 isstaying in the same area or not (steps S2 to S4).

Here, the time measurement unit 104 judges whether or not the radioterminal 101 is moving across plural areas of different radio basestations or not, or whether or not the radio terminal 101 is movingacross plural location registration areas each of which is formed by aplurality of radio base stations, for example. Also, in the case wherethe radio base station is provided at a railway station, the timemeasurement unit 104 judges whether or not the radio terminal 101 isstaying inside a prescribed railway station, or whether or not the radioterminal 101 has moved to a new railway station for such a reason asthat a user is on board, for example.

When it is judged that the radio terminal 101 has moved to a new area atthe step S2, the time measurement unit 104 terminates the measurement ofa staying time and resets the measured value to an initial value (stepS7). The operation then returns to the step S1.

On the other hand, when it is judged that the radio terminal 101 has notmoved from the same service area, that is the radio terminal 101 isstaying in the same area, the time measurement unit 104 carries out themeasurement of the staying time (step S3). The time measurement unit 104continues this measurement of the staying time while it is judged thatthe radio terminal 101 is staying in the same area, until the stayingtime exceeds a prescribed threshold at the step S4.

When the staying time exceeds the prescribed threshold at the step S4,the reception control unit 105 controls the reception unit 102 toreceive the push type distribution information transmitted by the radiobase station (step S5). This push type distribution information can beadvertisement information or the like that is broadcasted by the radiobase station, for example.

Note that a method for measuring the staying time at the timemeasurement unit 104 can be a method for simply measuring a period oftime, or a method for measuring the number of times for receiving thecontrol information that is periodically broadcasted by the radio basestation by using radio. In the latter case, when the broadcast controlinformation containing the same radio base station identifier isreceived consecutively over a prescribed number of times, it is judgedthat the radio terminal 101 is staying in the same area and thereception control unit 105 controls the reception unit 102 to receivethe push type distribution information.

When the radio terminal 101 has moved from that service area (step S6),the operation returns to the step S1.

Note that the prescribed threshold used in deciding whether or not toreceive the push type distribution information can be a preset constantvalue or a value that cannot be changed by the user, but it is alsopossible to make this threshold suitably adjustable by the user.

As described, the radio terminal of the first embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only when the radio terminal stays in the same area for morethan a prescribed period of time. Consequently, it is possible toprevent the radio terminal from excessively frequently receiving thepush type distribution information that is transmitted by the radio basestation regardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it ispossible to prevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memorycapacity of the radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by a passenger who getson or off the train at this railway station will receive the push typedistribution information, whereas the radio terminal owned by apassenger who is on a train that passes this railway station or apassenger who remains on a train that stops at this railway station fora short period of time will not receive the push type distributioninformation. Consequently, in the case of distributing the advertisementinformation or the like related to a vicinity of each railway station asthe push type distribution information at each railway station, theadvertisement information will be distributed only to those passengerswho get on or off the trains at this railway station, so that theeffective advertisement distribution becomes possible.

In addition, it becomes possible not to distribute the advertisementinformation to those passengers who do not get on or off the trains atthis railway station, so that it becomes possible to prevent the radioterminal from receiving an excessively large amount of advertisementinformation and thereby improve the handling of the radio terminal forthe user.

(Second Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the second embodiment of thepresent invention will be described.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the second embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information when the radio terminal stays in the samearea for more than a prescribed period of time. FIG. 2 shows anexemplary operation of the radio terminal of the second embodiment.

The first embodiment is directed to the case of receiving the controlinformation from the radio base station that transmits the push typedistribution information, whereas the second embodiment is directed tothe case of receiving the control information from a radio base stationof a radio communication system which is different from the radio basestation that transmits the push type distribution information.

As shown in FIG. 3, the radio terminal 111 includes at least a firstreception unit 112 for receiving control information transmitted byusing radio from a first radio base station that is capable oftransmitting information by using radio, a second reception unit 113 forreceiving push type distribution information transmitted by using radiofrom a second radio base station that is capable of transmittinginformation faster than the first radio base station, to this radioterminal 111 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 111 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 111),a location recognition unit 114 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 111 itself by utilizing the control information received by thefirst reception unit 112, a time measurement unit 115 for measuring aperiod of time for which this radio terminal 111 stays in the same areaby utilizing information regarding a location recognized by the locationrecognition unit 114, and a reception control unit 116 for controllingthe second reception unit 113 to receive the push type distributioninformation transmitted from the second radio base station when theperiod of time measured by the time measurement unit 115 exceeds aprescribed period of time.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 111 of FIG. 3 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 2.

The first reception unit 112 of the radio terminal 111 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the first radio base station byusing radio, and judges whether the radio terminal 111 itself is locatedwithin a service area in which information from the second radio basestation can be received or not, by utilizing the control information(step S1). This can be realized by including information indicatingwhether the second radio base station exists nearby or not in thecontrol information broadcasted by the first radio base station, forexample.

In the case where the radio terminal 111 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 114 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 111 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike of the first radio base station that is contained in the controlinformation. Here, the location recognition unit 114 may recognize thelocation of the radio terminal 111 by utilizing a radio base stationidentifier or the like of the second radio base station that iscontained in the control information transmitted by the second radiobase station.

In addition, the time measurement unit 115 monitors whether a change inthis location information occurs or not, and judges whether the radioterminal 111 is staying in the same area or not (steps S2 to S4).

Here, the time measurement unit 115 judges whether or not the radioterminal 111 is moving across plural areas of different radio basestations or not, or whether or not the radio terminal 111 is movingacross plural location registration areas each of which is formed by aplurality of radio base stations, for example. Also, in the case wherethe radio base station is provided at a railway station, the timemeasurement unit 115 judges whether or not the radio terminal 111 isstaying inside a prescribed railway station, or whether or not the radioterminal 111 has moved to a new railway station for such a reason asthat a user is on board, for example.

When it is judged that the radio terminal 111 has moved to a new area atthe step S2, the time measurement unit 115 terminates the measurement ofa staying time and resets the measured value to an initial value (stepS7). The operation then returns to the step S1.

On the other hand, when it is judged that the radio terminal 111 has notmoved from the same service area, that is the radio terminal 111 isstaying in the same area, the time measurement unit 115 carries out themeasurement of the staying time (step S3). The time measurement unit 115continues this measurement of the staying time while it is judged thatthe radio terminal 111 is staying in the same area, until the stayingtime exceeds a prescribed threshold at the step S4.

When the staying time exceeds the prescribed threshold at the step S4,the reception control unit 116 controls the second reception unit 113 toreceive the push type distribution information transmitted by the secondradio base station (step S5). This push type distribution informationcan be advertisement information or the like that is broadcasted by theradio base station, for example.

Note that a method for measuring the staying time at the timemeasurement unit 115 can be a method for simply measuring a period oftime, or a method for measuring the number of times for receiving thecontrol information that is periodically broadcasted by the first orsecond radio base station by using radio. In the latter case, when thebroadcast control information containing the same radio base stationidentifier is received consecutively over a prescribed number of times,it is judged that the radio terminal 111 is staying in the same area andthe reception control unit 116 controls the second reception unit 113 toreceive the push type distribution information.

When the radio terminal 111 has moved from that service area (step S6),the operation returns to the step S1.

Note that, similarly as in the first embodiment, the prescribedthreshold used in deciding whether or not to receive the push typedistribution information can be a preset constant value or a value thatcannot be changed by the user, but it is also possible to make thisthreshold suitably adjustable by the user.

As described, the radio terminal of the second embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only when the radio terminal stays in the same area for morethan a prescribed period of time. Consequently, it is possible toprevent the radio terminal from excessively frequently receiving thepush type distribution information that is transmitted by the radio basestation regardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it ispossible to prevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memorycapacity of the radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by a passenger who getson or off the train at this railway station will receive the push typedistribution information, whereas the radio terminal owned by apassenger who is on a train that passes this railway station or apassenger who remains on a train that stops at this railway station fora short period of time will not receive the push type distributioninformation. Consequently, in the case of distributing the advertisementinformation or the like related to a vicinity of each railway station asthe push type distribution information at each railway station, theadvertisement information will be distributed only to those passengerswho get on or off the trains at this railway station, so that theeffective advertisement distribution becomes possible.

In addition, it becomes possible not to distribute the advertisementinformation to those passengers who do not get on or off the trains atthis railway station, so that it becomes possible to prevent the radioterminal from receiving an excessively large amount of advertisementinformation and thereby improve the handling of the radio terminal forthe user.

(Third Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the third embodiment of thepresent invention will be described.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the third embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information only at areas where the reception of pushtype distribution information is useful for a user such as vicinities ofa user's resident area and a user's place of employment, according toinformation regarding a user of the radio terminal. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6show exemplary operations of the radio terminal of the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the radio terminal 201 includes at least a receptionunit 202 for receiving control information transmitted from a radio basestation by using radio and push type distribution informationtransmitted from that radio base station by using radio to this radioterminal 201 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 201 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 201),a location recognition unit 203 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 201 itself by utilizing the control information received by thereception unit 202, a user information memory unit 204 for storinginformation regarding the user of this radio terminal 201 such asaddresses, postal codes, telephone numbers, etc., of the user's home,place of employment, school, etc., for example, a reception areadetermination unit 205 for determining areas for receiving the push typedistribution information by utilizing the information stored in the userinformation memory unit 204, a reception control information memory unit206 for storing information regarding the areas determined by thereception area determination unit 205, and a reception control unit 207for controlling the reception unit 202 by judging whether or not toreceive the push type distribution information transmitted from theradio base station according to the location recognized by the locationrecognition unit 203 and the information stored in the reception controlinformation memory unit 206.

Exemplary operations of the radio terminal 201 of FIG. 4 will now bedescribed along flow charts shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

The reception unit 202 of the radio terminal 201 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the radio base station by usingradio, and judges whether the radio terminal 201 itself is locatedwithin a service area or not according to whether the controlinformation can be received or not (step S11).

In the case where the radio terminal 201 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 203 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 201 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike that is contained in the control information. The reception controlinformation memory unit 206 is storing identifiers of areas forreceiving the push type distribution information such as identifiers ofradio base stations or identifiers of areas defined to be formed by aplurality of radio base stations, and the reception control unit 207judges whether or not to receive the push type distribution informationby comparing this information stored in the reception controlinformation memory unit 206 with the location information recognized bythe location recognition unit 203 (step S12).

When the reception control unit 207 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the reception unit 202receives the push type distribution information (step S13), or otherwisethe reception unit 202 does not receive the push type distributioninformation.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 201 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, when the user of the radio terminal 201 enters theuser information (such as addresses, postal codes, telephone numbers,etc., of the user's home, place of employment, school, etc., forexample) into the user information memory unit 204 (step S21), thereception area determination unit 205 converts this user informationinto identifiers of radio base stations or identifiers of areas definedto be formed by a plurality of radio base stations that correspond tothe areas for receiving the push type distribution information (stepS22), and the reception control information memory unit 206 stores theseidentifiers (step S23). Note that this conversion may be carried out atthe other timings such as regular timings, for example.

For example, this can be done in such a manner that, when the userenters the user's home and place of employment, a nearby railway stationof the home and a nearby railway station of the place of employment areobtained by referring to a built-in conversion table, and converted intoidentifiers of radio base stations corresponding to these railwaystations, and then these identifiers are stored. Here, in addition tothe nearby railway stations of the home and the place of employmententered by the user, it is also possible to obtain transfer railwaystations (or a group of candidate transfer railway stations when thereare more than one commuting routes from the home to the place ofemployment) that can be determines from the nearby railway stations,convert them into identifiers of radio base stations corresponding tothese transfer railway stations, and then store these identifiers. Inaddition, it is also possible to add some other railway stations thatsatisfy a prescribed condition (such as railway stations which are to bepassed in commuting between the home and the place of employment butwhich are likely to be stopped by for the purpose of shopping or thelike in general, for example).

The above described example is directed to the case of receiving thepush type distribution information at railway stations that are requiredor likely be used by the user from a viewpoint of commuting between thehome and the place of employment, but it is obviously also possible toselect the reception areas or the reception target railway stations fromvarious other viewpoints. For example, information regarding interestsor preferences of the user may be used as the information regarding theuser. Also, information on a schedule of the user may be used as theinformation regarding the user. It is also possible to use these variouscases in suitable combinations.

In this way, it becomes possible for the radio terminal 201 to selectthe nearby railway station of the home and the nearby railway station ofthe place of employment of the user and receive the push typedistribution information such as the advertisement information forvicinities of these railway stations, for example.

As described, the radio terminal of the third embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to addresses of thehome and the place of employment, the schedule information, etc., of theuser of the radio terminal. Consequently, it is possible to prevent theradio terminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Fourth Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 5, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the fourthembodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the fourth embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information only at areas where the reception of pushtype distribution information is useful for a user such as vicinities ofa user's resident area and a user's place of employment, according toinformation regarding a user of the radio terminal. FIG. 5 and FIG. 8show exemplary operations of the radio terminal of the fourthembodiment.

The third embodiment is directed to the case where the informationregarding the reception areas is obtained inside the radio terminal fromthe information regarding the user, whereas the fourth embodiment isdirected to the case where the information regarding the reception areasis obtained by a prescribed device within a network.

As shown in FIG. 7, the radio terminal 211 includes at least a receptionunit 212 for receiving control information transmitted from a radio basestation by using radio and push type distribution informationtransmitted from that radio base station by using radio to this radioterminal 211 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 211 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 211),a location recognition unit 217 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 211 itself by utilizing the control information received by thereception unit 212, a user information memory unit 214 for storinginformation regarding the user of this radio terminal 211 such asaddresses, postal codes, telephone numbers, etc., of the user's home,place of employment, school, etc., for example, a user informationtransmission unit 213 for transmitting the information stored in theuser information memory unit 214 through a network, an area informationreception unit 215 for receiving information regarding areas in whichthe radio terminal 211 receives the push type distribution informationthat is determined by a prescribed device in the network according tothe information transmitted by the user information transmission unit213, a reception control information memory unit 216 for storing theinformation regarding the areas received by the area informationreception unit 215, and a reception control unit 218 for controlling thereception unit 212 by judging whether or not to receive the push typedistribution information transmitted from the radio base stationaccording to the location recognized by the location recognition unit217 and the information stored in the reception control informationmemory unit 216.

Exemplary operations of the radio terminal 211 of FIG. 7 will now bedescribed along flow charts shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 8.

The reception unit 212 of the radio terminal 211 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the radio base station by usingradio, and judges whether the radio terminal 211 itself is locatedwithin a service area or not according to whether the controlinformation can be received or not (step S11).

In the case where the radio terminal 211 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 217 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 211 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike that is contained in the control information. The reception controlinformation memory unit 216 is storing identifiers of areas forreceiving the push type distribution information such as identifiers ofradio base stations or identifiers of areas defined to be formed by aplurality of radio base stations, and the reception control unit 218judges whether or not to receive the push type distribution informationby comparing this information stored in the reception controlinformation memory unit 216 with the location information recognized bythe location recognition unit 217 (step S12).

When the reception control unit 218 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the reception unit 212receives the push type distribution information (step S13), or otherwisethe reception unit 212 does not receive the push type distributioninformation.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 211 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, when the user of the radio terminal 211 enters theuser information into the user information memory unit 214 (step S31),the user information transmission unit 213 transmits this userinformation to the prescribed device in the network (step S32). Here,the user information can be addresses, postal codes, telephone numbers,etc., of the user's home, place of employment, school, etc., forexample. Note that this user information transmission may be carried outat the other timings such as regular timings, for example.

Upon receiving the user information, the prescribed device in thenetwork converts this user information into identifiers of radio basestations or identifiers of areas defined to be formed by a plurality ofradio base stations that correspond to the areas in which the radioterminal 211 receives the push type distribution information, andtransmits them to the radio terminal 211.

At the radio terminal 211, this information is received by the areainformation reception unit 215 through the reception unit 212 (stepS33), and the reception control information memory unit 216 stores theseidentifiers (step S34).

In this way, it becomes possible for the radio terminal 211 to selectthe nearby railway station of the home and the nearby railway station ofthe place of employment of the user and receive the push typedistribution information such as the advertisement information forvicinities of these railway stations, for example.

Note that various methods can be used as a method of obtaining the basestation identifiers or the like from the information regarding the user,similarly as in the third embodiment.

As described, the radio terminal of the fourth embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to addresses of thehome and the place of employment, the schedule information, etc., of theuser of the radio terminal. Consequently, it is possible to prevent theradio terminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Fifth Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 9, the fifth embodimentof the present invention will be described.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the fifth embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information only at areas where the reception of pushtype distribution information is useful for a user such as vicinities ofa user's resident area and a user's place of employment, according toinformation regarding a user of the radio terminal. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6show exemplary operations of the radio terminal of the fifth embodiment.

The fifth embodiment is a modification of the third embodiment, which isdirected to the case where the control information is received by aradio communication system different from the radio base station thattransmits the push type distribution information.

As shown in FIG. 9, the radio terminal 221 includes at least a firstreception unit 224 for receiving control information transmitted byusing radio from a first radio base station that is capable oftransmitting information by using radio, a second reception unit 222 forreceiving push type distribution information transmitted by using radiofrom a second radio base station that is capable of transmittinginformation faster than the first radio base station, to this radioterminal 221 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 221 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 221),a location recognition unit 223 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 221 itself by utilizing the control information received by thefirst reception unit 224, a user information memory unit 225 for storinginformation regarding the user of this radio terminal 221 such asaddresses, postal codes, telephone numbers, etc., of the user's home,place of employment, school, etc., for example, a reception areadetermination unit 226 for determining areas for receiving the push typedistribution information by utilizing the information stored in the userinformation memory unit 225, a reception control information memory unit227 for storing information regarding the areas determined by thereception area determination unit 226, and a reception control unit 228for controlling the second reception unit 222 by judging whether or notto receive the push type distribution information transmitted from thesecond radio base station according to the location recognized by thelocation recognition unit 223 and the information stored in thereception control information memory unit 227.

Exemplary operations of the radio terminal 221 of FIG. 9 will now bedescribed along flow charts shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

The first reception unit 224 of the radio terminal 221 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the first radio base station byusing radio, and judges whether the radio terminal 221 itself is locatedwithin a service area in which information from the second radio basestation can be received or not, by utilizing the control information(step S11). This can be realized by including information indicatingwhether the second radio base station exists nearby or not in thecontrol information broadcasted by the first radio base station, forexample.

In the case where the radio terminal 221 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 223 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 221 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike of the first radio base station that is contained in the controlinformation. The reception control information memory unit 227 isstoring identifiers of areas for receiving the push type distributioninformation such as identifiers of radio base stations or identifiers ofareas defined to be formed by a plurality of radio base stations, andthe reception control unit 228 judges whether or not to receive the pushtype distribution information by comparing this information stored inthe reception control information memory unit 227 with the locationinformation recognized by the location recognition unit 223 (step S12).

When the reception control unit 228 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the second reception unit222 receives the push type distribution information (step S13), orotherwise the second reception unit 222 does not receive the push typedistribution information.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 221 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, when the user of the radio terminal 221 enters theuser information into the user information memory unit 225 (step S21),the reception area determination unit 226 converts this user informationinto identifiers of radio base stations or identifiers of areas definedto be formed by a plurality of radio base stations that correspond tothe areas for receiving the push type distribution information (stepS22), and the reception control information memory unit 227 stores theseidentifiers (step S23). Note that this conversion may be carried out atthe other timings such as regular timings, for example.

In this way, it becomes possible for the radio terminal 221 to selectthe nearby railway station of the home and the nearby railway station ofthe place of employment of the user and receive the push typedistribution information such as the advertisement information forvicinities of these railway stations, for example.

Note that various methods can be used as a method of obtaining the basestation identifiers or the like from the information regarding the user,similarly as in the third embodiment.

As described, the radio terminal of the fifth embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to addresses of thehome and the place of employment, the schedule information, etc., of theuser of the radio terminal. Consequently, it is possible to prevent theradio terminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Sixth Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 5, FIG. 8 and FIG. 10, the sixthembodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the sixth embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information only at areas where the reception of pushtype distribution information is useful for a user such as vicinities ofa user's resident area and a user's place of employment, according toinformation regarding a user of the radio terminal. FIG. 5 and FIG. 8show exemplary operations of the radio terminal of the sixth embodiment.

The sixth embodiment is a modification of the fourth embodiment, whichis directed to the case where the control information is received by aradio communication system different from the radio base station thattransmits the push type distribution information.

As shown in FIG. 10, the radio terminal 231 includes at least a firstreception unit 235 for receiving control information transmitted byusing radio from a first radio base station that is capable oftransmitting information by using radio, a second reception unit 232 forreceiving push type distribution information transmitted by using radiofrom a second radio base station that is capable of transmittinginformation faster than the first radio base station, to this radioterminal 231 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 231 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 231),a location recognition unit 234 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 231 itself by utilizing the control information received by thefirst reception unit 235, a user information memory unit 236 for storinginformation regarding the user of this radio terminal 231 such asaddresses, postal codes, telephone numbers, etc., of the user's home,place of employment, school, etc., for example, a user informationtransmission unit 237 for transmitting the information stored in theuser information memory unit 236 through a network, an area informationreception unit 239 for receiving information regarding areas in whichthe radio terminal 231 receives the push type distribution informationthat is determined by a prescribed device in the network according tothe information transmitted by the user information transmission unit237, a reception control information memory unit 238 for storing theinformation regarding the areas received by the area informationreception unit 239, and a reception control unit 233 for controlling thesecond reception unit 232 by judging whether or not to receive the pushtype distribution information transmitted from the second radio basestation according to the location recognized by the location recognitionunit 234 and the information stored in the reception control informationmemory unit 238.

Exemplary operations of the radio terminal 231 of FIG. 10 will now bedescribed along flow charts shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 8.

The first reception unit 235 of the radio terminal 231 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the first radio base station byusing radio, and judges whether the radio terminal 231 itself is locatedwithin a service area in which information from the second radio basestation can be received or not, by utilizing the control information(step S11). This can be realized by including information indicatingwhether the second radio base station exists nearby or not in thecontrol information broadcasted by the first radio base station, forexample.

In the case where the radio terminal 231 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 234 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 231 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike of the first radio base station that is contained in the controlinformation. The reception control information memory unit 238 isstoring identifiers of areas for receiving the push type distributioninformation such as identifiers of radio base stations or identifiers ofareas defined to be formed by a plurality of radio base stations, andthe reception control unit 233 judges whether or not to receive the pushtype distribution information by comparing this information stored inthe reception control information memory unit 238 with the locationinformation recognized by the location recognition unit 234 (step S12).

When the reception control unit 233 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the second reception unit232 receives the push type distribution information (step S13), orotherwise the second reception unit 232 does not receive the push typedistribution information.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 231 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, when the user of the radio terminal 231 enters theuser information into the user information memory unit 236 (step S31),the user information transmission unit 237 transmits this userinformation to the prescribed device in the network (step S32). Here,the user information can be addresses, postal codes, telephone numbers,etc., of the user's home, place of employment, school, etc., forexample. Note that this user information transmission may be carried outat the other timings such as regular timings, for example.

Upon receiving the user information, the prescribed device in thenetwork converts this user information into identifiers of radio basestations or identifiers of areas defined to be formed by a plurality ofradio base stations that correspond to the areas in which the radioterminal 231 receives the push type distribution information, andtransmits them to the radio terminal 231.

At the radio terminal 231, this information is received by the areainformation reception unit 239 through the second reception unit 232(step S33), and the reception control information memory unit 238 storesthese identifiers (step S34).

By this operation, when the user enters the home and the place ofemployment, the prescribed device in the network obtains identifiers oftheir nearby radio base stations, and the radio terminal 231 receivesand stores these identifiers.

In this way, it becomes possible for the radio terminal 231 to selectthe nearby railway station of the home and the nearby railway station ofthe place of employment of the user and receive the push typedistribution information such as the advertisement information forvicinities of these railway stations, for example.

Note that various methods can be used as a method of obtaining the basestation identifiers or the like from the information regarding the user,similarly as in the third embodiment.

Note also that, in the radio terminal 231 described above, theinformation of the identifiers or the like is received through thesecond reception unit 232, but it is also receive this informationthrough the first reception unit 235.

As described, the radio terminal of the sixth embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to addresses of thehome and the place of employment, the schedule information, etc., of theuser of the radio terminal. Consequently, it is possible to prevent theradio terminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Seventh Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 5 and FIG. 11 to FIG. 13, the seventhembodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show exemplary configurations of the radio terminalaccording to the seventh embodiment, each of which is a radio terminalthat stores areas for receiving push type distribution information, andreceives push type distribution information only at areas where thereception of push type distribution information is useful for a usersuch as vicinities of a user's resident area and a user's place ofemployment. FIG. 5 and FIG. 13 show exemplary operations of the radioterminal of the seventh embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 11, the radio terminal 301 includes at least areception unit 302 for receiving control information transmitted from aradio base station by using radio and push type distribution informationtransmitted from that radio base station by using radio to this radioterminal 301 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 301 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 301),a location recognition unit 303 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 301 itself by utilizing the control information received by thereception unit 302, a reception control information memory unit 304 forstoring information regarding areas for receiving the push typedistribution information, and a reception control unit 305 forcontrolling the reception unit 302 by judging whether or not to receivethe push type distribution information transmitted from the radio basestation according to the location recognized by the location recognitionunit 303 and the information stored in the reception control informationmemory unit 304.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 301 of FIG. 11 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 5.

The reception unit 302 of the radio terminal 301 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the radio base station by usingradio, and judges whether the radio terminal 301 itself is locatedwithin a service area or not according to whether the controlinformation can be received or not (step S11).

In the case where the radio terminal 301 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 303 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 301 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike that is contained in the control information. The reception controlinformation memory unit 304 is storing identifiers of areas forreceiving the push type distribution information such as identifiers ofradio base stations or identifiers of areas defined to be formed by aplurality of radio base stations, and the reception control unit 305judges whether or not to receive the push type distribution informationby comparing this information stored in the reception controlinformation memory unit 304 with the location information recognized bythe location recognition unit 303 (step S12).

When the reception control unit 305 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the reception unit 302receives the push type distribution information (step S13), or otherwisethe reception unit 302 does not receive the push type distributioninformation.

For example, in the case of judging this according to the radio basestation identifier, the reception control unit 305 checks whether theradio base station identifier recognized by the location recognitionunit 303 is stored in the reception control information memory unit 304or not, and controls the reception unit 302 to receive the push typedistribution information when that radio base station identifier isstored in the reception control information memory unit 304.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 301 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, the radio terminal 311 shown in FIG. 12 operatessimilarly as the radio terminal 301 of FIG. 11, but in addition it alsoincludes an information reception area registration unit 306 such thatthe user can register the areas for receiving the push type distributioninformation. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the user registers areasin which the reception of the push type distribution information isdesired (step S41), and the reception control information memory unit304 of the radio terminal 311 stores the registered areas (step S42).

For example, the user who is carrying around the radio terminal 311 willcarry out a prescribed operation such as pressing a specific button withrespect to the radio terminal 311 when the user wishes to receive thepush type distribution information at that location. The locationrecognition unit 303 is recognizing the location according to the radiobase station identifier or the like received through the reception unit302, so that when the user carries out such an operation, the receptioncontrol information memory unit 304 stores the location informationrecognized at that moment, such as the radio base station identifier,for example. The reception control information memory unit 304 mayretain this information after it is stored once until the user carriesout an operation for deleting the registration, or delete thisinformation after a prescribed period of time has elapsed after theregistration.

As an alternative registration method, the radio terminal 311 can beprovided with a list of areas at which the push type distributioninformation is distributed, such that the user selects areas at whichthe reception of the push type distribution information is desired fromthat area list, and registers the selected areas. It is obviously alsopossible to enable the deletion of the registered areas.

It is also possible to enable the operations on the registered contentsin the reception control information memory unit 304 of the radioterminal 301 or 311 from an external PC or the like. For example, aroute map of the train can be displayed on a screen of the external PCsuch that the user can select desired railway stations on the route map.Then, the radio base station identifiers or the like corresponding tothe selected railway stations can be transferred from the PC to theradio terminal 301 or 311 and registered into the reception controlinformation memory unit 304. Also, the railway stations related to akeyword entered by the user at the PC can be displayed on the route map,and the radio base station identifiers or the like of these railwaystations can be transferred from the PC to the radio terminal 301 or 311and registered into the reception control information memory unit 304according to a command of the user. Also, the contents currently set inthe reception control information memory unit 304 of the radio terminal301 or 311 can be displayed on the route map. Besides these, it is alsopossible to realize a variety of graphical user interfaces.

The above points also apply to the eighth to tenth embodiments to bedescribed below.

Note that the reception control information can be stored into thereception control information memory unit 304, by transferring thereception control information from the external PC or the like to theradio terminal 301 or 311, or by providing a user interface forregistration/deletion of the reception control information on the radioterminal 301 or 311.

By the above operation, in the case where the radio base station isprovided at a railway station, for example, the reception of the pushtype distribution information at the nearby railway stations of the homeand the place of employment that are normally utilized by the user canbe registered, such that it becomes possible for the radio terminal toreceive the push type distribution information at desired railwaystations without requiring the user to operate the radio terminal. Inparticular, in the case of transmitting advertisement information for avicinity of the railway station or information specific to the region asthe push type distribution information at the radio base station of eachrailway station, it becomes possible for the radio terminal of the userto receive such information according to the desire of the user.

As described, the radio terminal of the seventh embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to the desire of theuser of the radio terminal. Also, it becomes possible for the user ofthe radio terminal to register areas in which the reception of the pushtype distribution information is desired into the radio terminal easily.Consequently, it is possible to prevent the radio terminal fromexcessively frequently receiving the push type distribution informationthat is transmitted by the radio base station regardless of a request ofthe radio terminal, so that it is possible to prevent wastefulconsumption of a battery power or a memory capacity of the radioterminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Eighth Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 5 and FIG. 13 to FIG. 15, the eighthembodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 show exemplary configurations of the radio terminalaccording to the eighth embodiment, each of which is a radio terminalthat stores areas for receiving push type distribution information, andreceives push type distribution information only at areas where thereception of push type distribution information is useful for a usersuch as vicinities of a user's resident area and a user's place ofemployment. FIG. 5 and FIG. 13 show exemplary operations of the radioterminal of the eighth embodiment.

The eighth embodiment is a modification of the seventh embodiment, whichis directed to the case where the control information is received by aradio communication system different from the radio base station thattransmits the push type distribution information.

As shown in FIG. 14, the radio terminal 321 includes at least a firstreception unit 324 for receiving control information transmitted byusing radio from a first radio base station that is capable oftransmitting information by using radio, a second reception unit 322 forreceiving push type distribution information transmitted by using radiofrom a second radio base station that is capable of transmittinginformation faster than the first radio base station, to this radioterminal 321 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 321 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 321),a location recognition unit 323 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 321 itself by utilizing the control information received by thefirst reception unit 324, a reception control information memory unit325 for storing information regarding areas for receiving the push typedistribution information, and a reception control unit 326 forcontrolling the second reception unit 322 by judging whether or not toreceive the push type distribution information transmitted from thesecond radio base station according to the location recognized by thelocation recognition unit 323 and the information stored in thereception control information memory unit 325.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 321 of FIG. 14 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 5.

The first reception unit 324 of the radio terminal 321 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the first radio base station byusing radio, and judges whether the radio terminal 321 itself is locatedwithin a service area in which information from the second radio basestation can be received or not, by utilizing the control information(step S11). This can be realized by including information indicatingwhether the second radio bast station exists nearby or not in thecontrol information broadcasted by the first radio base station, forexample.

In the case where the radio terminal 321 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 323 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 321 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike of the first radio base station that is contained in the controlinformation. Here, the location may be recognized by utilizing the radiobase station identifier of the second radio base station. The receptioncontrol information memory unit 325 is storing identifiers of areas forreceiving the push type distribution information such as identifiers ofthe first radio base stations or identifiers of areas defined to beformed by a plurality of the first radio base stations, and thereception control unit 326 judges whether or not to receive the pushtype distribution information by comparing this information stored inthe reception control information memory unit 325 with the locationinformation recognized by the location recognition unit 323 (step S12).Note that the information stored in the reception control informationmemory unit 325 may be identifiers of the second radio base stations oridentifiers of areas defined to be formed by a plurality of the secondradio base stations.

When the reception control unit 326 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the second reception unit322 receives the push type distribution information (step S13), orotherwise the second reception unit 322 does not receive the push typedistribution information.

For example, in the case of judging this according to the radio basestation identifier of the first radio base station, the receptioncontrol unit 326 checks whether the radio base station identifier of thefirst radio base station recognized by the location recognition unit 323is stored in the reception control information memory unit 325 or not,and controls the second reception unit 322 to receive the push typedistribution information when that radio base station identifier isstored in the reception control information memory unit 325.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 321 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, the radio terminal 331 shown in FIG. 15 operatessimilarly as the radio terminal 321 of FIG. 14, but in addition it alsoincludes an information reception area registration unit 327 such thatthe user can register the areas for receiving the push type distributioninformation. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the user registers areasin which the reception of the push type distribution information isdesired (step S41), and the reception control information memory unit325 of the radio terminal 331 stores the registered areas (step S42).

For example, the user who is carrying around the radio terminal 331 willcarry out a prescribed operation such as pressing a specific button withrespect to the radio terminal 331 when the user wishes to receive thepush type distribution information at that location. The locationrecognition unit 323 is recognizing the location according to the radiobase station identifier or the like received through the first receptionunit 324, so that when the user carries out such an operation, thereception control information memory unit 325 stores the locationinformation recognized at that moment, such as the radio base stationidentifier, for example. The reception control information memory unit325 may retain this information after it is stored once until the usercarries out an operation for deleting the registration, or delete thisinformation after a prescribed period of time has elapsed after theregistration.

As an alternative registration method, the radio terminal 331 can beprovided with a list of areas at which the push type distributioninformation is distributed, such that the user selects areas at whichthe reception of the push type distribution information is desired fromthat area list, and registers the selected areas.

Similarly as described for the seventh embodiment, it is also possibleto enable the operations of the radio terminal 321 or 331 from anexternal PC or the like.

By the above operation, in the case where the radio base station isprovided at a railway station, for example, the reception of the pushtype distribution information at the nearby railway stations of the homeand the place of employment that are normally utilized by the user canbe registered, such that it becomes possible for the radio terminal toreceive the push type distribution information at desired railwaystations without requiring the user to operate the radio terminal. Inparticular, in the case of transmitting advertisement information for avicinity of the railway station or information specific to the region asthe push type distribution information at the radio base station of eachrailway station, it becomes possible for the radio terminal of the userto receive such information according to the desire of the user.

As described, the radio terminal of the eighth embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to the desire of theuser of the radio terminal. Also, it becomes possible for the user ofthe radio terminal to register areas in which the reception of the pushtype distribution information is desired into the radio terminal easily.Consequently, it is possible to prevent the radio terminal fromexcessively frequently receiving the push type distribution informationthat is transmitted by the radio base station regardless of a request ofthe radio terminal, so that it is possible to prevent wastefulconsumption of a battery power or a memory capacity of the radioterminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Ninth Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 16 to FIG. 19, the ninth embodiment of thepresent invention will be described.

FIG. 16 and FIG. 18 show exemplary configurations of the radio terminalaccording to the ninth embodiment, each of which is a radio terminalthat stores areas for prohibiting reception of push type distributioninformation, and receives push type distribution information only atareas where the user desires the reception of push type distributioninformation such as vicinities of a user's resident area and a user'splace of employment. FIG. 17 and FIG. 19 show exemplary operations ofthe radio terminal of the ninth embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 16, the radio terminal 401 includes at least areception unit 402 for receiving control information transmitted from aradio base station by using radio and push type distribution informationtransmitted from that radio base station by using radio to this radioterminal 401 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 401 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 401),a location recognition unit 403 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 401 itself by utilizing the control information received by thereception unit 402, a reception control information memory unit 404 forstoring information regarding areas for prohibiting reception of thepush type distribution information, and a reception control unit 405 forcontrolling the reception unit 402 by judging whether or not to receivethe push type distribution information transmitted from the radio basestation according to the location recognized by the location recognitionunit 403 and the information stored in the reception control informationmemory unit 404.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 401 of FIG. 16 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 17.

The reception unit 402 of the radio terminal 401 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the radio base station by usingradio, and judges whether the radio terminal 401 itself is locatedwithin a service area or not according to whether the controlinformation can be received or not (step S51).

In the case where the radio terminal 401 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 403 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 401 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike that is contained in the control information. The reception controlinformation memory unit 404 is storing identifiers of areas forprohibiting reception of the push type distribution information such asidentifiers of radio base stations or identifiers of areas defined to beformed by a plurality of radio base stations, and the reception controlunit 405 judges whether or not to receive the push type distributioninformation by comparing this information stored in the receptioncontrol information memory unit 404 with the location informationrecognized by the location recognition unit 403 (step S52).

When the reception control unit 405 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the reception unit 402receives the push type distribution information (step S53), or otherwisethe reception unit 402 does not receive the push type distributioninformation.

For example, in the case of judging this according to the radio basestation identifier, the reception control unit 405 checks whether theradio base station identifier recognized by the location recognitionunit 403 is stored in the reception control information memory unit 404or not, and controls the reception unit 402 to receive the push typedistribution information when that radio base station identifier is notstored in the reception control information memory unit 404.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 401 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, the radio terminal 411 shown in FIG. 18 operatessimilarly as the radio terminal 401 of FIG. 16, but in addition it alsoincludes an information reception prohibited area registration unit 406such that the user can register the areas for prohibiting reception ofthe push type distribution information. In this case, as shown in FIG.19, the user registers areas in which the prohibition of reception ofthe push type distribution information is desired (step S61), and thereception control information memory unit 404 of the radio terminal 411stores the registered areas (step S62).

For example, the user who is carrying around the radio terminal 411 willcarry out a prescribed operation such as pressing a specific button withrespect to the radio terminal 411 when the user wishes to prohibitreception of the push type distribution information at that location.The location recognition unit 403 is recognizing the location accordingto the radio base station identifier or the like received through thereception unit 402, so that when the user carries out such an operation,the reception control information memory unit 404 stores the locationinformation recognized at that moment, such as the radio base stationidentifier, for example. The reception control information memory unit404 may retain this information after it is stored once until the usercarries out an operation for deleting the registration, or delete thisinformation after a prescribed period of time has elapsed after theregistration.

As an alternative registration method, the radio terminal 411 can beprovided with a list of areas at which the push type distributioninformation is distributed, such that the user selects areas at whichthe prohibition of reception of the push type distribution informationis desired from that area list, and registers the selected areas.

Similarly as described for the seventh embodiment, it is also possibleto enable the operations of the radio terminal 401 or 411 from anexternal PC or the like.

By the above operation, in the case where the radio base station isprovided at a railway station, for example, the prohibition of receptionof the push type distribution information at the railway stations to bepassed in commuting between the home and the place of employment thatare normally not utilized by the user can be registered, such that itbecomes possible to prevent the radio terminal from receiving the pushtype distribution information at those railway stations where receptionof the push type distribution information is not desired. In particular,in the case of transmitting advertisement information for a vicinity ofthe railway station or information specific to the region as the pushtype distribution information at the radio base station of each railwaystation, it becomes possible to prevent the radio terminal of the userfrom receiving such information at railway stations other than thosenormally utilized by the user, according to the desire of the user.

As described, the radio terminal of the ninth embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to the desire of theuser of the radio terminal. Also, it becomes possible for the user ofthe radio terminal to register areas in which the prohibition ofreception of the push type distribution information is desired into theradio terminal easily. Consequently, it is possible to prevent the radioterminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Tenth Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 17 and FIG. 19 to FIG. 21, the tenthembodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 20 and FIG. 21 show exemplary configurations of the radio terminalaccording to the tenth embodiment, each of which is a radio terminalthat stores areas for prohibiting reception of push type distributioninformation, and receives push type distribution information only atareas where the user desires the reception of push type distributioninformation such as vicinities of a user's resident area and a user'splace of employment. FIG. 17 and FIG. 19 show exemplary operations ofthe radio terminal of the tenth embodiment.

The tenth embodiment is a modification of the ninth embodiment, which isdirected to the case where the control information is received by aradio communication system different from the radio base station thattransmits the push type distribution information.

As shown in FIG. 20, the radio terminal 421 includes at least a firstreception unit 424 for receiving control information transmitted byusing radio from a first radio base station that is capable oftransmitting information by using radio, a second reception unit 422 forreceiving push type distribution information transmitted by using radiofrom a second radio base station that is capable of transmittinginformation faster than the first radio base station, to this radioterminal 421 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 421 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 421),a location recognition unit 423 for recognizing a location of this radioterminal 421 itself by utilizing the control information received by thefirst reception unit 424, a reception control information memory unit425 for storing information regarding areas for prohibiting reception ofthe push type distribution information, and a reception control unit 426for controlling the second reception unit 422 by judging whether or notto receive the push type distribution information transmitted from thesecond radio base station according to the location recognized by thelocation recognition unit 423 and the information stored in thereception control information memory unit 425.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 421 of FIG. 20 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 17.

The first reception unit 424 of the radio terminal 421 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the first radio base station byusing radio, and judges whether the radio terminal 421 itself is locatedwithin a service area in which information from the second radio basestation can be received or not, by utilizing the control information(step S51). This can be realized by including information indicatingwhether the second radio bast station exists nearby or not in thecontrol information broadcasted by the first radio base station, forexample.

In the case where the radio terminal 421 is located within the servicearea, the location recognition unit 423 recognizes the location of theradio terminal 421 by utilizing a radio base station identifier or thelike of the first radio base station that is contained in the controlinformation. Here, the location may be recognized by utilizing the radiobase station identifier of the second radio base station. The receptioncontrol information memory unit 425 is storing identifiers of areas forprohibiting reception of the push type distribution information such asidentifiers of the first radio base stations or identifiers of areasdefined to be formed by a plurality of the first radio base stations,and the reception control unit 426 judges whether or not to receive thepush type distribution information by comparing this information storedin the reception control information memory unit 425 with the locationinformation recognized by the location recognition unit 423 (step S52).Note that the information stored in the reception control informationmemory unit 425 may be identifiers of the second radio base stations oridentifiers of areas defined to be formed by a plurality of the secondradio base stations.

When the reception control unit 426 judges that the push typedistribution information should be received, the second reception unit422 receives the push type distribution information (step S53), orotherwise the second reception unit 422 does not receive the push typedistribution information.

For example, in the case of Judging this according to the radio basestation identifier of the first radio base station, the receptioncontrol unit 426 checks whether the radio base station identifier of thefirst radio base station recognized by the location recognition unit 423is stored in the reception control information memory unit 425 or not,and controls the second reception unit 422 to receive the push typedistribution information when that radio base station identifier is notstored in the reception control information memory unit 425.

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 421 movesto another area, such that the push type distribution information isreceived according to the need.

On the other hand, the radio terminal 431 shown in FIG. 21 operatessimilarly as the radio terminal 421 of FIG. 20, but in addition it alsoincludes an information reception prohibited area registration unit 427such that the user can register the areas for prohibiting reception ofthe push type distribution information. In this case, as shown in FIG.19, the user registers areas in which the prohibition of reception ofthe push type distribution information is desired (step S61), and thereception control information memory unit 425 of the radio terminal 431stores the registered areas (step S62).

For example, the user who is carrying around the radio terminal 431 willcarry out a prescribed operation such as pressing a specific button withrespect to the radio terminal 431 when the user wishes to prohibitreception of the push type distribution information at that location.The location recognition unit 423 is recognizing the location accordingto the radio base station identifier or the like received through thefirst reception unit 424, so that when the user carries out such anoperation, the reception control information memory unit 425 stores thelocation information recognized at that moment, such as the radio basestation identifier, for example. The reception control informationmemory unit 425 may retain this information after it is stored onceuntil the user carries out an operation for deleting the registration,or delete this information after a prescribed period of time has elapsedafter the registration.

As an alternative registration method, the radio terminal 431 can beprovided with a list of areas at which the push type distributioninformation is distributed, such that the user selects areas at whichthe prohibition of reception of the push type distribution informationis desired from that area list, and registers the selected areas.

Similarly as described for the seventh embodiment, it is also possibleto enable the operations of the radio terminal 421 or 431 from anexternal PC or the like.

By the above operation, in the case where the radio base station isprovided at a railway station, for example, the prohibition of receptionof the push type distribution information at the railway stations to bepassed in commuting between the home and the place of employment thatare normally not utilized by the user can be registered, such that itbecomes possible to prevent the radio terminal from receiving the pushtype distribution information at those railway stations where receptionof the push type distribution information is not desired. In particular,in the case of transmitting advertisement information for a vicinity ofthe railway station or information specific to the region as the pushtype distribution information at the radio base station of each railwaystation, it becomes possible to prevent the radio terminal of the userfrom receiving such information at railway stations other than thosenormally utilized by the user, according to the desire of the user.

As described, the radio terminal of the ninth embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only within prescribed areas. In particular, the push typedistribution information will be received according to the desire of theuser of the radio terminal. Also, it becomes possible for the user ofthe radio terminal to register areas in which the prohibition ofreception of the push type distribution information is desired into theradio terminal easily. Consequently, it is possible to prevent the radioterminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation, for example, the radio terminal owned by the user will receivethe push type distribution information by selecting railways stationsthat are normally utilized by the user such as a nearby railway stationof user's home, a nearby railway station of the user's place ofemployment and a nearby railway station of the user's school, or railwaystations often utilized at a time of going out, while the radio terminalwill not receive the push type distribution information at the otherrailway stations such as railway stations to be passed by the user incommuting between the home and the place of employment. Consequently, inthe case of distributing the advertisement information or the likerelated to a vicinity of each railway station as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, the advertisementinformation will be distributed only to those passengers who get on oroff the trains at this railway station, so that the effectiveadvertisement distribution becomes possible.

(Eleventh Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, the eleventh embodiment ofthe present invention will be described.

FIG. 22 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the eleventh embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information when a battery remaining power of theradio terminal is not less than a prescribed value. FIG. 23 shows anexemplary operation of the radio terminal of the eleventh embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 22, the radio terminal 501 includes at least areception unit 502 for receiving control information transmitted from aradio base station by using radio and push type distribution informationtransmitted from that radio base station by using radio to this radioterminal 501 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 501 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 501),a battery 503 for supplying power to the radio terminal 501 itself, abattery remaining power management unit 504 for managing a remainingpower of the battery 503, and a reception control unit 505 forcontrolling the reception unit 502 by judging whether or not to receivethe push type distribution information transmitted from the radio basestation according to the battery remaining power managed by the batteryremaining power management unit 504.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 501 of FIG. 22 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 23.

The reception unit 502 of the radio terminal 501 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the radio base station by usingradio, and judges whether the radio terminal 501 itself is locatedwithin a service area or not according to whether the controlinformation can be received or not (step S71).

The battery remaining power management unit 504 monitors the availableremaining power of the battery 503, and notifies the battery remainingpower to the reception control unit 505 at prescribed timings. Here, thebattery remaining power management unit 504 may notify the fact that thebattery remaining power became less than the prescribed value to thereception control unit 505 when this happens, or the reception controlunit 505 may inquire the battery remaining power to the batteryremaining power management unit 504 according to the need.

In this way, the reception control unit 505 can comprehend theinformation regarding the battery remaining power at least while theradio terminal 501 is located within the service area, and when thereception control unit 505 recognizes that the battery remaining powerbecame less than the prescribed value (step S72 NO), the receptioncontrol unit 505 controls the reception unit 502 to prohibit receptionof the push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation.

On the other hand, when the reception control unit 505 recognizes thatthe battery remaining power is not less than the prescribed value (stepS72 YES), the reception control unit 505 controls the reception unit 502to carry out the reception of the push type distribution information(step S73).

After these operations, when there is a request to receive pull typedistribution information according to a request of the radio terminal501 (step S74), the reception control unit 505 controls the receptionunit 502 to receive this pull type distribution information (step S75).

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 501 movesto another area, such that the radio terminal 501 receives the push typedistribution information only when the battery remaining power is notless than the prescribed value.

It is also possible to modify this eleventh embodiment such that thecontrol information is received by a radio communication systemdifferent from the radio base station that transmits the push typedistribution information, similarly as in the second embodiment.

As described, the radio terminal of the eleventh embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only when the available battery remaining power is not less thanthe prescribed value. Consequently, it is possible to prevent the radioterminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base stations at many railwaystation, for example, it is possible to prevent the radio terminal fromcausing a user's inconvenience by exhausting the battery powercompletely as a result of receiving the push type distributioninformation whenever the train approaches to each railway station whilethe user is on the train for the purpose of commuting between a nearbyrailway station of the user's home and a nearby railway station of theuser's place of employment or school. It also becomes possible to leavesome battery remaining power for the purpose of receiving the pull typedistribution information that is to be received according to a requestof the radio terminal. Consequently, in the case of distributing theadvertisement information related to a vicinity of each railway stationas the push type distribution information at each railway station, it ispossible to prevent the radio terminal from becoming incapable ofreceiving the pull type distribution information as a result ofreceiving the push type distribution information excessively, so that itis possible to provide the radio terminal with the improved handling forthe user.

(Twelfth Embodiment)

Next, with references to FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, the twelfth embodiment ofthe present invention will be described.

FIG. 24 shows an exemplary configuration of the radio terminal accordingto the twelfth embodiment, which is a radio terminal that receives pushtype distribution information when a memory remaining capacity of theradio terminal is not less than a prescribed value. FIG. 25 shows anexemplary operation of the radio terminal of the twelfth embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 24, the radio terminal 601 includes at least areception unit 602 for receiving control information transmitted from aradio base station by using radio and push type distribution informationtransmitted from that radio base station by using radio to this radioterminal 601 according to a request from a device other than this radioterminal 601 (that is, without a request from this radio terminal 601),an information memory unit 603 for storing information received by thereception unit 602, a memory remaining capacity management unit 604 formanaging a remaining capacity of the information memory unit 603, and areception control unit 605 for controlling the reception unit 602 byjudging whether or not to receive the push type distribution informationtransmitted from the radio base station according to the memoryremaining capacity managed by the memory remaining capacity managementunit 604.

An exemplary operation of the radio terminal 601 of FIG. 24 will now bedescribed along a flow chart shown in FIG. 25.

The reception unit 602 of the radio terminal 601 is receiving thecontrol information broadcasted from the radio base station by usingradio, and judges whether the radio terminal 601 itself is locatedwithin a service area or not according to whether the controlinformation can be received or not (step S81).

Also, the push type distribution information or the like that isreceived at the radio terminal 601 within the service area through thereception unit 602 can be stored into the information memory unit 603.

The memory remaining capacity management unit 604 monitors the availableremaining capacity of the information memory unit 603, and notifies thememory remaining capacity to the reception control unit 605 atprescribed timings. Here, the memory remaining capacity management unit604 may notify the fact that the memory remaining capacity became lessthan the prescribed value to the reception control unit 605 when thishappens, or the reception control unit 605 may inquire the memoryremaining capacity to the memory remaining capacity management unit 604according to the need.

In this way, the reception control unit 605 can comprehend theinformation regarding the memory remaining capacity at least while theradio terminal 601 is located within the service area, and when thereception control unit 605 recognizes that the memory remaining capacitybecame less than the prescribed value (step S82 NO), the receptioncontrol unit 605 controls the reception unit 602 to prohibit receptionof the push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation.

On the other hand, when the reception control unit 605 recognizes thatthe memory remaining capacity is not less than the prescribed value(step S82 YES), the reception control unit 605 controls the receptionunit 602 to carry out the reception of the push type distributioninformation (step S83).

After these operations, when there is a request to receive pull typedistribution information according to a request of the radio terminal601 (step S84), the reception control unit 605 controls the receptionunit 602 to receive this pull type distribution information (step S85).

The above operation is carried out whenever the radio terminal 601 movesto another area, such that the radio terminal 601 receives the push typedistribution information only when the memory remaining capacity is notless than the prescribed value.

It is also possible to modify this twelfth embodiment such that thecontrol information is received by a radio communication systemdifferent from the radio base station that transmits the push typedistribution information, similarly as in the second embodiment.

As described, the radio terminal of the twelfth embodiment will receivethe push type distribution information transmitted by the radio basestation only when the available memory remaining capacity is not lessthan the prescribed value. Consequently, it is possible to prevent theradio terminal from excessively frequently receiving the push typedistribution information that is transmitted by the radio base stationregardless of a request of the radio terminal, so that it is possible toprevent wasteful consumption of a battery power or a memory capacity ofthe radio terminal.

Also, in the case of providing the radio base station at a railwaystation and distributing the advertisement information related to avicinity of each railway station as the push type distributioninformation at each railway station, for example, it is possible toprevent the radio terminal of a passenger of the train from exhaustingthe memory capacity completely as a result of receiving the push typedistribution information at excessively many railway stations.Consequently, it becomes possible for the radio terminal to secure thememory capacity for the purpose of storing information other than thepush type distribution information, and it is possible to prevent theradio terminal from becoming incapable of receiving the pull typedistribution information that is to be received according a request ofthe radio terminal, so that it is possible to provide the radio terminalwith the improved handling for the user.

In the following, some variations of the embodiments described abovewill be described.

First, it is possible to practice more than one of the push typedistribution information reception control methods of the variousembodiments described above in suitable combinations.

When more than one reception control methods are combined, there can becases where it is determined to receive the push type distributioninformation according to one reception control method while it isdetermined not to receive the push type distribution informationaccording to another reception control method. In order to deal withsuch cases, a determination by which reception control method should begiven a higher priority may be determined in advance, or the push typedistribution information may be received when any one of the receptioncontrol methods determines to receive the push type distributioninformation, or the push type distribution information may be receivedonly when all the reception control methods determine to receive thepush type distribution information, or the push type distributioninformation may be received when the majority of the reception controlmethods determine to receive the push type distribution information, orwhether or not to receive the push type distribution information may bedetermined by a comprehensive evaluation.

For example, in the case of combining the method in which a staying formore than a prescribed period of time is used as a reception conditionand the method in which being located within a registered area is usedas a reception condition, it is possible to carry out the control toreceive the push type distribution information at an area in which theradio terminal stays for more than a prescribed period of time as wellas at a registered area, or the control to receive the push typedistribution information only at a registered area in which the radioterminal stays for more than a prescribed period of time.

Also, for example, it is possible to determine whether or not to receivethe push type distribution information by giving a top priority to theuser's explicit indication for reception or prohibition of reception atthose areas where such an indication is given by the user. It is alsopossible to enable the user to select a desired reception control methodfrom a plurality of reception control methods provided at the radioterminal.

Next, it is also possible to practice more than one of the receptionarea or reception prohibited area setting/registration methods insuitable combinations. For example, the method in which informationregarding the user is utilized as in the third embodiment and the methodin which the reception areas are specified by the user can be used incombination.

Next, the embodiments described above are directed to the case wherewhether or not to receive the push type distribution information isdetermined at the radio terminal side and this determination is to befollowed, but it is also possible to carry out another reception controlindependently from this determination. For example, the reception ofinformation with a specific identification information attached theretowhich is transmitted from the radio base station of some railway stationmay be made compulsory regardless of the result of determination on theradio terminal side. In this way, it is possible to make as many radioterminals as possible to receive the specific information that should benotified to as many people as possible. Also, in this case, it ispossible to enable the user to make a setting as to whether anyinformation with this specific identification information attachedthereto will always be received, or information with this specificidentification information attached thereto will also not be receivedwhen it is determined not to receive the push type distributioninformation at the radio terminal side.

Next, the embodiments described above are directed to the case wherewhether or not to receive the push type distribution information isdetermined at each area, but instead of that, it is also possible todetermine the amount of data or the number of information for which thepush type distribution information is to be received. For example, it ispossible to set up a rank for receiving all the push type distributioninformation that is transmitted, a rank for receiving no push typedistribution information, as well as ranks in i-steps for receiving upto Ni pieces of the push type distribution information that istransmitted, and determine a rank corresponding to a target area. Tothis end, the user may set up a rank for each area in advance, or a rankmay be appropriately set up according to the information regarding theuser (by setting a higher rank to an area of a railway station which ismore likely relevant to the user), or a rank may be appropriately set upaccording to the staying time in the same area (by setting a higher rankto an area for which the staying time is longer). Besides these, it isalso possible to use many other methods.

Next, the above embodiments have been described mostly for an exemplarycase where a radio base station that has a service area covering an areaof a railway station is provided at each railway station and theadvertisement information or the regional information related to avicinity of each railway station is distributed as the push typedistribution information at each railway station, but the presentinvention is obviously also applicable to various situations other thanthat involving the railway. For example, the present invention is alsoapplicable to the case where a radio base station that has a servicearea covering a vicinity of a crossing is provided and the user who hasthe radio terminal will move by driving a car. The present invention isalso applicable to the case where radio base stations are provided atvarious spots in a town (such as stores, for example) and the user whohas the radio terminal will walk through the town for shopping.

Thus according to the present invention, the radio terminal receives andstores the push type distribution information only at locationsrequested by the user of the radio terminal or locations that the userof the radio terminal may potentially utilize, so that it is possible torealize the radio terminal with the improved handling for the user,while also realizing the effective distribution of the advertisementinformation or the like. Moreover, it is also possible to prevent thewasteful consumption of the battery power or the memory capacityavailable in the radio terminal.

It is to be noted that the above described embodiments according to thepresent invention may be conveniently implemented using a conventionalgeneral purpose digital computer programmed according to the teachingsof the present specification, as will be apparent to those skilled inthe computer art. Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared byskilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, aswill be apparent to those skilled in the software art.

In particular, the radio terminal of each of the above describedembodiments can be conveniently implemented in a form of a softwarepackage.

Such a software package can be a computer program product which employsa storage medium including stored computer code which is used to programa computer to perform the disclosed function and process of the presentinvention. The storage medium may include, but is not limited to, anytype of conventional floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs,magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or opticalcards, or any other suitable media for storing electronic instructions.

It is also to be noted that, besides those already mentioned above, manymodifications and variations of the above embodiments may be madewithout departing from the novel and advantageous features of thepresent invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and variationsare intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A radio terminal, comprising: a reception unit configured to receivepush type distribution information from a radio base station which istransmitting the push type distribution information related to an areato which the radio base station belongs, without requiring a requestfrom the radio terminal; a location recognition unit configured to carryout a recognition related to an area in which the radio terminal islocated; and a reception control unit configured to determine whether ornot to receive the push type distribution information according to arecognition result of the location recognition unit, and to control thereception unit according to a determination result such that the pushtype distribution information from the radio base station is notreceived at all by the reception unit when it is determined not toreceive the push type distribution information according to therecognition result, wherein the reception control unit is configured todetermine to receive the push type distribution information when it isjudged that the radio terminal is staving in an identical area for morethan a prescribed period of time according to the recognition result. 2.The radio terminal of claim 1, further comprising: an area informationmemory unit configured to store a reception area information regardingarea in which the push type distribution information should be received,wherein the reception control unit is further configured to determine toreceive the push type distribution information when it is judged that alocation of the radio terminal belongs to the areas in which the pushtype distribution information should be received according to therecognition result and the reception area information.
 3. The radioterminal of claim 2, further comprising: a user information memory unitconfigured to store a user information regarding a user of the radioterminal; and a reception area information generation unit configured togenerate the reception area information according to the userinformation.
 4. The radio terminal of claim 2, further comprising: auser information memory unit configured to store a user informationregarding a user of the radio terminal; and a reception area informationacquisition unit configured to give the user information to anotherdevice and to acquire the reception area information generated at theanother device according to the user information from the anotherdevice.
 5. The radio terminal of claim 2, further comprising: aregistration unit configured to register the reception area informationinto the area information memory unit or delete the reception areainformation from the area information memory unit according to an inputoperation by a user with respect to the radio terminal.
 6. The radioterminal of claim 1, further comprising: an area information memory unitconfigured to store a reception prohibited area information regardingareas in which reception of the push type distribution informationshould be prohibited, wherein the reception control unit is furtherconfigured to determine not to receive the push type distributioninformation when it is judged that a location of the radio terminalbelongs to the areas in which reception of the push type distributioninformation should be prohibited according to the recognition result andthe reception prohibited area information.
 7. The radio terminal ofclaim 6, further comprising: a registration unit configured to registeror delete the reception area information into the area information thearea information memory unit according to an input operation by a userwith respect to the radio terminal.
 8. The radio terminal of claim 1,further comprising: a management unit configured to determine aremaining power of a battery configured to supply power to the radioterminal, wherein the reception control unit is further configured todetermine whether or not to receive the push type distributioninformation according to the remaining power.
 9. The radio terminal ofclaim 1, further comprising: a management unit configured to determine aremaining capacity of a memory configured to store the push typedistribution information in the radio terminal, wherein the receptioncontrol unit is further configured to determine whether or not toreceive the push type distribution information according to theremaining capacity.
 10. The radio terminal of claim 1, wherein therecognition unit is configured to recognize a location of the radioterminal according to control information received from the radio basestation.
 11. The radio terminal of claim 1, further comprising: anotherreception unit configured to receive information transmitted fromanother base station different from the radio base station, wherein therecognition unit is further configured to recognize a location of theradio terminal according to control information received from theanother radio base station.
 12. An information reception control methodfor a radio terminal which is capable of receiving push typedistribution information from a radio base station which is transmittingthe push type distribution information related to an area to which theradio base station belongs, without requiring a request from the radioterminal, the method comprising the step of: carrying out a recognitionrelated to an area in which the radio terminal is located; determiningwhether or not to receive the push type distribution informationaccording to a recognition result obtained by the carrying out step; andreceiving the push type distribution information only when thedetermining step determines to receive the push type distributioninformation such that the push type distribution information from theradio base station is not received at all when it is determined not toreceive the push type distribution information according to therecognition result, wherein the determining step determines to receivethe push type distribution information when it is judged that the radioterminal is staving in an identical area for more than a prescribedperiod of time according to the recognition result.
 13. A computerusable medium having computer readable program codes embodied thereinfor causing a computer to function as a radio terminal, the computerreadable program codes include: a first computer readable program codefor causing said computer to receive push type distribution informationfrom a radio base station which is transmitting the push typedistribution information related to an area to which the radio basestation belongs, without requiring a request from the radio terminal; asecond computer readable program code for causing said computer to carryout a recognition related to an area in which the radio terminal islocated; and a third computer readable program code for causing saidcomputer to determine whether or not to receive the push typedistribution information according to a recognition result of the secondcomputer readable program code, and control the first computer readableprogram code according to a determination result such that the push typedistribution information from the radio base station is not received atall when it is determined not to receive the push type distributioninformation according to the recognition result, wherein the thirdcomputer readable program code causes said computer to determine toreceive the push type distribution information when it is judged thatthe radio terminal is staying in an identical area for more than aprescribed period of time according to the recognition result.